PM denies proposed industrial reforms are 'union busting'

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has denied the push to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ACCC) is "anti-union".

Video of a confrontation between a CFMEU official and a worker at the Parklands Commonwealth Games Village Project in 2015 was released today, and used by Mr Turnbull in an attempt to bolster his argument for a tougher building watchdog.

In the video, the worker tells the official the way he drove in was "not on".

"Yeah f--- off," the CFMEU official responds. "What do you want to do? You want your job shut down for another two days? Look at [inaudible]. You's want to f--- with me, I tell you now [inaudible] mate.

"Get off your f---ing a--, you're supposed to be a safety adviser. Blokes actually reckon you’re not a bad bloke so why don’t you prove it?"

The worker repeats "the way you drove in is not on", adding "you're actually trespassing okay?"

"Trespassing," the official responds, "you f---ing murder people, you and your corporation, and what you represent, have killed people mate. F-- you c---, I’ll f---ing drive you eh? Drive you c---. You know what? You know what, I know your phone number. I know where you live c---. I’m telling you now.

The exchange continues until the official returns to his vehicle, knocking over a safety balustrade, before opening the car door to say "you better do an incident report".

Mr Turnbull said the video emphasised the nonchalant attitude of union workers who treat serious incident reports as “business expenses”.

"The union regards the very small fines that are imposed on them as no more than parking tickets. They treat it as a business expense," he told ABC radio on this morning.

Mr Turnbull denied government legislation restoring the Australian Building and Construction Commission and a separate registered organisations commission are about "union busting".

"This is not anti-union. This is not union busting," he said, arguing instead it was an "economy-boosting" change.

The Master Builders Association believes it's accurate to portray the building industry as a lawless sector ruled by thugs.

Government backbencher Andrew Laming said it was time to get rid of unions altogether, insisting they no longer played a role in site safety or supporting their members in meaningful ways.

“The game of unions is getting more members signed up, bringing round the iced vovos to tea rooms and of course extorting and threatening people who don't join up," he told reporters at Parliament House.